Romeo as a Flawed Hero

Romeo as a Flawed Hero

The word hero has two meanings, firstly that a person would have to be

a brave character and is someone who is courageous. Secondly a hero

has to be a main person or character in a story, the "Protagonist".

Back in the days of when the play Romeo and Juliet was set, people

would think that characters had a balance, like a set of scales. On

one side passion and the other reason. A balanced person was meant to

have had an equal amount of both. You can get an idea of how flawed

Romeo may be by the way that his character is balanced.

At the beginning of the play Romeo is absent this is due to him

suffering from "love sickness" for Rosaline and he insists "there is

no other woman for him" (a sign of immature youth).This explains the

confusion that we see in his first conversation with Benvolio. His

speech is full of oxymorons and contradictions as he is struggles to

make sense of his problems.

[Romeo's fit of depression brought on by his total love would have

been perfectly understandable to Shakespeare's audience, saying that

love is meant to be a painful matter]

His sadness continues as he makes his way to the ball to see Rosaline.

Making him a target for Mercutio's jokes, though he feels that

something dreadful will "bitterly begin his fearful date" at the ball,

something dreadful that will end with his "untimely death".

His confusion immediately disappears when he sees Juliet and notices

how she appears in the dance like a "snowy dove trooping with crows".

This shows a flaw in Romeo's character as this contradicts what he

said earlier in the play that there being no oth...

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... die to protect her. (He showed a lot of character and maturity and

self-control. The language that he uses proves this. "Thus with a kiss

I die". It is clear from the language used in the final scene that

Romeo was maturer at the end than he was at the beginning).

Romeo dies for love and this is the ultimate heroic act.

[Shakespeare uses a combination of dramatic scenes and contrasts to

get both the audiences attention and setting the scene. The running

battle between the families makes an impressive introduction and also

establishes the family feud].

Romeo was a flawed hero as pointed out at various stages, but at times

his faults were due to his youth and lack of experience of life. He

did mature by the end of the Play which is amazing especially since

the timeline of the play lasts for just over four days.